DCC4N's Rick Overton Interview

Every time I pass by the movie "Groundhog Day" on cable, if I can, I wait for this part: (9:15 minute mark) Bill Murry well into the monotony of his curse and about to move out of denial and into anger, has been boozing down with two Puxtawney bowling-alley regulars and laments, "What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing that you did mattered?" To which Rick Overton's character gives the lone reply of, "That about sums it up for me". Overton's reply resonates, especially for comedians, who have ventured out onto the stage in search of validation and the approbation that their voice is relevant and what they do matters.

I have needed to inject this blog with some life and recently the idea of getting back to the interveiws with people who make comedy their living has seemed like one of the most interesting ways. Overton came to mind because his first HBO Special came on around the time I was growing up and starting to follow comedy. It was the late 80's and early 90's, back when Rosie O'Donnell was actually kind of cool for hosting one of the few stand-up shows on television, "A&E's Evening at the Improv". Guys like the late Dennis Wolfburg, Richard Lewis, Bill Hicks, Eddie Griffinm, Norm McDonald, and Overton were just starting to get recognized and getting their own HBO One-Night Stand. Before any of his existential ranting, I rememeber Bill Hicks first because of his joke about "New Kids on the Block", it was one of the clips HBO would always play when they advertised the One-Night Stand series. It was the only material I could comprehend from Hicks at the time.

So I reached out to Overton, who graciously obliged, because he has been a favorite of mine from early on and I always enjoyed seeing him on his multiple roles on TV and Film. His credits include: Willow (alongside Kevin Pollack, they are the "smallest" characters actually in the film), Groundhog Day and an Emmy for writing on the Dennis Miller Show. I would have liked to have talked to him more about his film credits and experiences on the Dennis Miller Show and hope to follow-up with him sometime down the road.

You grew up in Queens, New York and both of your parents were involved with music it looks like, is music something that you were involved in as well? Did you grow up around performers? If so, what kind of influence do remember that having on you?

I Grew up in Forest Hills until 1966, at which point we moved to Englewood NJ because Dizzy Gillespie found us a house near him! Music has always played a role in my creativity, whether it's an actual song, or a joke or a script. Everything should have a pulse, like a heartbeat. Music breathes life into anything it is applied to. I did grow up around jazz musicians. My Dad was a closet comic and would play Bob Newhart and Jonathan Winters albums for me all the time. Got me hooked on Peter Sellers. Characters. I began comedy in high school, in a team with Tonn Pastore - OVERTON AND PASTORE. He went into a day job scene and stayed. We talk every other day. I'm his son's Godfather.

Your friend, Pastore took to the day-job scene, what kept you from doing the same? The thing that kept me going was just passion. Passion makes the hard parts more like the way you re tired after playing a sport that you love, or the kind of tired you get from doing something you hate to do. There's a good and a bad tired. Following your dream is the good tired at the end of the day.

Then, in 1973 I teamed up with Roger Sullivan - OVERTON AND SULLIVAN. (Roger is the guy who told ME the ARISTOCRATS joke that I told to Paul Provenza and Penn Gillette. The best Aristo-Joke told to me is the one told to me by Roger Sullivan, the same version I tell in the movie, but my acknowledgement of Roger in the beginning was trimmed for time. I fought to keep it in but lost out to editing decisions. He [Sullivan] started that whole ball rolling, in truth) Budd Friedman chose us for the NY Improv and Rick Newman chose us for Catch A Rising Star. Roger and I worked together for 5 years and I broke out on my own and started doing the solo act in early 1978. Scary to leave the nest, but here I am.

Could you describe a little about your act with Roger Sullivan? Overton and Sullivan was a team that did abstract sketches and characters. Little scenes like: A car with buzzers that go off until the driver zips up his fly (1973). Two cops trying to talk a jumper off of a ledge with impressions, and get caught up in their own schtick, forgetting the jumper (1975). Strange bits with lots of high speed timing and characters - sound effects too.

So then you were off to LA...I moved to LA in late 1980. Chris Albrecht was my ICM agent and he got me all my initial work. I work today in films because of a small handful of people, Chris Albercht, Gary Marshall, and Ron Howard were the ones who initially believed in me. I am in their debt, along with Harold Ramis and a host of others.

You started to comedy in the 70's and 80's? What are the major differences between doing comedy now and then? Comedy is different now. Today, there are less clubs and only the biggest names can fill a room in the era of cable TV and both parents working all day to pay the bills. What happened to comedy is what happened to rock. Started out as being a bold protest to conditions. Originality being tantamount. Nowadays, rock songs are just about - "We're gonna have a party tonight!". Comedy has gone that marketing route now too. There are still brilliant artists in the form, but the days of Andy Kaufman taking the media by storm may be behind us, for the time being. I LOVE Andy Kindler, Patton Oswalt and Dana Gould. John Fuglesang and Troy Conrad are doing great, brave comedy too.

What always seems to stay the same or what can you yourself always depend on doing live comedy? Do you still get the same feeling that you did when you were just starting out?I don't get the same feeling on stage as when I started out, but it's close enough for me to come back rain or shine. I'm more of an actor these days, but my act is seeing a new resurgence of appreciation in this era of tightened belts. Suddenly, what I've been saying all along is getting heard.

How did you learn about the business side of comedy? What advice would you give folks starting out about the business side? I learned about the business side by simply observing and asking. Pride can wipe you off the entertainment map altogether. I have a business manager to help and boy do I need it on the number-crunch side of this.

My advice to those starting out now is to take improv classes. Nothing has been as overall instrumental in my career than that. Then take cold reading classes. Nobody will remain a standup comic alone forever. No longer possible. Be good at at least 5 other related things - acting, writing, improv, directing, producing etc... Even teaching.